Mexican officials say they have nabbed the alleged top hit man for an Acapulco drug gang suspected in the slayings of 22 people earlier this month.

The Public Safety Department says Jose Lozano was arrested along with six other suspected members of the Independent Cartel of Acapulco. The little-known gang has been claiming responsibility for killings in the area over the past five months.

The department says the 21-year-old alleged hit man was arrested Thursday and acknowledged participating in the killings of 22 people whose bodies were dumped at a shopping center. Fifteen had been decapitated.

A Sunday statement says the gang is also suspected in the September slayings of 20 mechanics who disappeared while vacationing in Acapulco.

The image of this beach mecca has taken a new hit from Mexico's drug violence.

Acapulco has seen fierce turf wars between drug gangs, and the bloodshed is scaring some vacationers away even though little of the violence happens in tourist areas.

The 14 headless bodies, and a 15th intact corpse, were found by police on a street outside a shopping center accompanied by written warnings from a drug cartel, authorities said.

Handwritten signs left with the bodies were signed by "El Chapo's People," a reference to the Sinaloa cartel, which is headed by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

The narco-messages indicated the Sinaloa cartel killed the 15 men for trying to intrude on the gang's turf and extort residents.